Fans who were hoping to see Halo 2 and Halo 3 rebuilt the way Halo: Campaign Evolved reimagined the original game may have missed out on something much bigger. According to a new video report from Rebs Gaming, Halo Studios had early plans for full remakes of both games, multiplayer included, before layoffs shut them down.
Rebs says the studio referred to the remaining trilogy remakes under the codename "Project Manihi." He describes the work as an exploration of ideas earlier this year, and it is important to note that none of this has been confirmed by Xbox or Halo Studios.
What The Halo 2 Remake Could Have Included
According to the report, Halo Studios surveyed select community members about what they wanted from the remakes. For Halo 2, the questions reportedly covered:
- Bringing back dual wielding, and how important it is to the experience
- A full multiplayer component that keeps Halo 2's classic gameplay
- A complete selection of multiplayer playlists at launch
- Adding Firefight
- Reusing Blur Studio's cinematics from Halo 2: Anniversary
- New bonus missions
Rebs reports that participants pushed back on reusing the Blur cutscenes, since the studio also planned to reuse assets from Campaign Evolved, which could have created a visual mismatch.
Halo 3 Was Reportedly Meant To Be The Flagship
The ambitions for Halo 3 were reportedly even bigger. The idea was to take what the team had learned from Campaign Evolved and the Halo 2 plans and apply it all to Halo 3, with multiplayer, Forge, Theater and Firefight all on the table. According to Rebs, Halo 3 was meant to be the flagship of the whole remake initiative.
The report adds that both remakes were expected to include bonus missions similar to the ones in Campaign Evolved, and that they would have existed alongside the next mainline Halo game.
It is worth stressing what stage this was at. The details come from community surveys, not a finished game, so these were ideas being tested rather than features that were locked in. Some posts circulating on social media have described the remakes as fully in development, which goes further than what the report actually claims.
Why The Plans Ended
The timing lines up with a major shake-up at Xbox. Last month (September 22nd), Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty announced 268 job cuts across Halo Studios, other first-party studios and central teams. In the same memo, he revealed that Activision will develop the next Halo game with a new, purpose-built team separate from Call of Duty, while a small team at Halo Studios continues supporting the community and the games already on the market.
Activision president Rob Kostich said the goal is to "make the greatest Halo game ever, worthy of its universe and legacy, while staying true to what made players love it in the first place."
According to Rebs, the layoffs and restructuring are what ended Project Manihi. Neither Xbox nor Activision has said anything publicly about Halo 2 or Halo 3 remakes.
Where Halo Stands Now
Halo: Campaign Evolved, the remake of the original game's campaign, launched in July and is available on Xbox Series X and Series S, PC and PlayStation 5. As the name suggests, it is a campaign-focused remake, which makes the reported multiplayer, Forge and Theater ambitions of Project Manihi stand out even more. Rebs also noted that Manihi is the name of a coral atoll in French Polynesia, though it is unclear whether the codename carries any deeper meaning.
For now, the future of the Master Chief's story is in Activision's hands. Whether that new team will ever return to Halo 2 and Halo 3 is anyone's guess.
Would you rather Activision revisit full Halo 2 and Halo 3 remakes, or put everything into a brand new Halo game?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.